Yesterday was grocery day. Like every other Monday, me and the kids headed out with one goal in mind- survive the bottomless pit that IS Wal-Mart as swiftly as possible. With a short list and snack cups in hand, we sped through the store like pros. When speeding past the electronics section going to the grocery section from the non-food side the Clearance table caught my eye:

Yeah, that's a fat daddy camera marked way down! It was still a lot of money though. So, I took a picture with my phone and sent it to the hubs so we could do some research before spending that much money. We've been investigating the best kind of camera to replace my stolen one ever since "the bad guys" took in back in April but I still don't know what a lot of these terms mean.

We finished our speed shopping and headed to the house to grab Matt for a picnic lunch in the park while someone viewed our house {fail}. That night, after the kids were in bed, Matt and I googled to camera info. How else to you research? ;o) If we read all the info correctly off the little picture this is a pretty nice camera! We agreed that in the morning I would go snatch it up during my other errands.

This morning I rolled out bed to grab a quick shower before hurrying out the door for a morning Sonic happy hour drink on the way to the Health Department in town. I arrived 5 minutes late but no one seemed to care. They informed me that the nutritionist was in today...boo! See, I had an appointment with her before I got my WIC checks but she's hasn't been there for my last appointments and they let me skip it and just get the checks. The meeting was a boring as you could expect. The nutritionist reminding me to feed my children real food and me saying, Duh. I ran out the door and flew up an exit to grab the groceries on the WIC checks we needed as well as Maggie's birthday present while I was free of the lil spy.

This trip to the infernal region was even more brisk than yesterdays. That is until I got the the check out. {sign} I was using 3 WIC checks.
I've used WIC just long enough that I know a few silly tricks to rush things along:

I had my cart divided according to each check.
I lined everything up on the conveyor belt in order to how they were listed on the check.
I showed the cashier my folder.
I ask permission before signing all the checks at the beginning.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. "Ma'am, uhhh." Cashier looking over her shoulder, "you have to have the...uhhh...blue box" talking about the egg carton. I responded, "That is the carton that had the WIC label under it. I think they changed the packaging." She ignored me and sent me to the rear of the store to grab a "blue box". I rushed to the back of the store looking like one of those crazy trophy wifes trot'n around their suburb with elbows swinging.

In the dairy section, just as I'd seen before, lots of "brown boxes" with the WIC label under them and a tiny section of "blue boxes" in the corner. I retrieved the "blue box" per the cashiers request and huffed it back to my register where I was awaited by my cashier and her friend who quickly agreed with one another that "Yeah, that's the blue box". When she zapped the new carton it wouldn't go through. For the record:

the register at Wal-Mart knows more about WIC than anyone including me or the cashier
there are tons of dirty looks from judgemental onlookers when you pull out your WIC checks
more times than not, the cashier will treat you like an ignorant slob when checking out with WIC no matter how your dressed or how many of your little blessings are piled in your cart

She looked over her shoulder again at her friend and said, "It's blue right? Maybe green." I suggested again that they had changed the package but it was as if I wasn't even speaking. She slowly picked up both cartons of eggs, "blue and brown" so she could carry them to the back to find the "green box". Often, this is where I feel overwhelmed because I've messed something up and there's a line of customers behind me...not today. I forgot to add that another fact about WIC is: everyone knows its not a simple check out. Not only do checkers roll their eyes when you roll up but customers avoid falling in line behind you. I waited. I text Matt to give him an update on my errands. I waited. She returned with two "brown boxes".{both the same brand in case your were wondering}. She zapped it and it went through. "They must have changed the box" she said. REalllly???

Let's fast forward...
I skipped shopping Payless for Jamin's shoes.
Hurried home to use the bathroom.
Unload groceries.
Load girls.
Head to Story Time at the Library 10 late. The girls sat quietly and did great. We filled out our book club slips, chose 10 more books and a few movies for the week. When we got home, Matt had made us "Macaroni Monday" since we missed it yesterday.

I know what your thinking: "Matt's such a sweetheart! He watched those kids all morning so you could run all those errands! AND he made you lunch!"

No? That's not what you were thinking?

Oh yeah. The title of this post is "The Quest to a New Camera"...